Asia

Abstract

The Asian drug trade continues to revolve around two production poles: Afghanistan, for South-west Asia and the Caucasus; and Burma, for South-east Asia, the Far East and Australia. Both countries are at war and their governments earn money from drug production and exports. In Afghanistan, opium production more than doubled between 1998 and 1999, while increasingly heroin is manufactured in the country itself. Neighboring countries are the first victims of this booming output: Central Asia, where drug addiction seems to be spreading out of control, as in the CIS; China, in particular the regions of the north and their Moslem population; Pakistan, where there are reportedly 2 million heroin users; Iran, where the transit of opium, morphine base and heroin has disastrous local fallout; and finally, the west of India. Due to climatic reasons, fewer poppies grew in Burma in 1998 and 1999 than in previous years. However, this does not mean that the opium output has diminished a lot, because of productivity gains. The main novelty is that Burma has become Asia’s largest methamphetamine producer, flooding neighboring countries — Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — and even faraway Indonesia and Australia. Some countries, like India, Nepal and China receive drug flows from both Burma and Afghanistan. In India, drug trafficking is aggravating the political instability resulting from the rebellion of the Moslem minority in the North-west and the rebellions of ethnic minorities in the North-east. Similar problems can be observed in Tajikistan and China, where Moslem rebels are supported by the Afghan Taliban and often funded by drug money. Meanwhile, the Tamil separatists of Sri Lanka have struck deals with the Indian mafia and pay their arms purchases with drugs. However, it would be unfair to place all the blame, as do regional governments, on ethnic or religious minorities. In several countries, such as Cambodia, China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam, some sectors of the military or of the intelligence community are involved in the drug trade. Practically everywhere in the region, politicians and senior officials participate directly in drug activities or protect them.